The 16th episode of the NHK Asadora drama series "Kaze,Kaoru " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM, etc.), starring Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka , aired on April 20th, and viewers' attention was drawn to Sutematsu Oyama, played by Mikako Tabe.
As Naomi heads to the soup kitchen with Sutematsu and others, she coincidentally finds Yoshie (Taizo Harada) and Rin also there, having come to the soup kitchen. Suddenly, a little boy who has eaten the soup kitchen vomits. Suspecting an infectious disease, no one tries to help, but Rin and Naomi immediately rush to the child's side.
When Rin and Naomi tried to give the boy some water, Sutematsu stopped them, saying, "Stop it!" She cautioned them, "It's dangerous to touch him unnecessarily," and instructed them on how to safely give him water and how to clean up any vomit, then took the lead in cleaning up. When Naomi said, "Please stop. It's not right for a lady to do such a thing," Sutematsu replied, "Position doesn't matter when you're in front of a sick person!" and asked them to bring plenty of clean water to wash their hands.
After the soup kitchen was over, Sutematsu invited Rin and Naomi to her home. Sutematsu then asked, "Why don't you two become trained nurses?" and revealed that in the West, they are respected as professionals, and that she herself had received nursing training in the United States.
Naomi, surprised, said, "In Japan, nursing others is seen as a dangerous job that poor people do to earn money..." To which Sutematsu replied emphatically, "Why should those who nurse others be looked down upon? I want to change our society." She then explained that if she attended the newly established training school, she could become a nurse in two years, that there was no entrance fee, tuition was 50 sen per month, and dormitory life, including three meals a day, was 1 yen.
Sutematsu emphasized, "This is a job where even women can earn a wage that allows them to make a living on their own," explaining that in the United States, they could earn about 30 yen a month. That amount was equivalent to three years' worth of wages at the match factory where Naomi had worked. Sutematsu bowed her head to the two and said, "Please lend me your strength. For the sake of my dream."
On social media, comments included: "Sutematsu-sama is so wonderful," "Sutematsu-sama is the best," "Sutematsu-sama was precious again Mikako Tabe," "Mikako Tabe is perfect for the role," "Sutematsu-sama is so cool," "He's so cool it makes me want to cry," "Sutematsu-sama's dream is so amazing," "He's like the third main character," and "It's starting to look like there are not just two heroines, but three."
